Drew Lachey has entertained millions over the years while performing around the world with 98 Degrees. Now the boy bander and brother of Nick Lachey hopes to impact people in a new way as a DIY matchmaker on twisty new makeover show Date My House. The Design Network series sees the host on a mission to help homeowners fall back in love with their property again.
The 48-year-old is no stranger to home improvement television. Teaming with designer Sabrina Soto, he even won HGTV’s Showdown celebrity edition. His interest in this work was fueled by his own bad experience with a drywall contractor, who took his money and never finished the job.
We caught up with Lachey to chat about what makes his new series stand out.
How did this project come together?
Drew Lachey: I thought about doing a home renovation show a while ago. People see your stuff online or on social media, and I get the response that I should have my own show. I thought it wasn’t a terrible idea. I started thinking about what would make me different from all the other people out there. People have this idea that every time you renovate your house, it has to be this massive thing where you have to take down walls and all this stuff. That’s not realistic for most people. Most people have their space and semi-limited resources to make it work and fit them. This idea of dating your house and space came from that. The Design Network saw where I was coming from. That not everything needs to be us taking over an entire block somewhere. It needs to be something realistic for most people who are trying to make their house feel like a home.
The Design Network
As Drew Lachey from 98 Degrees, is it hard to build trust with the owners that you know what you’re doing?
You mean when they see a member of a boy band walk through the door wearing a tool belt. I’m sure it made them go, “Wait, aren’t you the guy from Dancing with the Stars?” There is definitely a moment where they are hoping their house is still standing at the end of the day. I think as anybody who has been around me knows, when I’m doing these projects or tasks, I take it very seriously. I go above and beyond. Sometimes my wife is just like, “It’s fine. Leave it alone.” I just keep going at it and tinkering to make it close to perfect. I try to think with every person, “What if this was my house?” Hopefully, they were also 98 Degrees fans before the show started. If not, maybe they will be at least afterward. I don’t see anyone from *NSYNC or Backstreet Boys doing this.
What can you tell us about the families we’ll meet and the projects you’ll be tackling?
We have all different parts of Cincinnati covered. Some live out further in the country. It’s newer houses and older houses. It really is a wide array of the kinds of people and projects. For me, a lot of it comes down to what we can do quickly. How can we make people fall in love with their space with a quick turnaround? Clearly, a lot of it is paint, window coverings, getting old furniture out, and rethinking the way people use the space. Everyone has that room they walk into and get annoyed and walk out and close the door. Those are the spaces we try to take on….We have 1980s bathroom floral borders coming down, mess with a little bit of water damage and drywall patching. There are some stairs that need repairs. Everything from putting a window AC unit to teaching people to hang drywall. A little bit of everything.
How do you compare the homes in this area to others around the country?
One house is a 12-sided house, which is the first I’ve ever heard of that. It’s in Ludlow, Kentucky, which is right across the river from Cincinnati. A lot of people don’t know the history of Cincinnati. It has been around for a long time and has been one of the premiere river towns since the late 1700s. For us, there is a lot of diversity as far as architecture. You have your shotgun houses, your mansions, all these things. We tried to intentionally pick different houses that are different styles and designs. I actually brought in an interior designer friend of mine to help out some of the choices, as far as window coverings and what paint coverings would do better. So while I’m working on a fence damaged in a tornado she is helping figure out paint colors and making sure the painting is going right. I do have help sometimes.
What kind of challenges did you face?
I think one of the biggest things is the number of hands. You’re trying to get so many projects in one short amount of time. You’re trying to give them the best result in a short amount of time. I want to make sure it’s done right. It’s about managing the time….The project management side of it is a fun wrinkle. My idea on houses is that you need to date them because, for a lot of people, it’s going to be the longest relationship in their lives. A 30-year mortgage is longer than most marriages. Date your house. Get to know what it likes. What it doesn’t like. How it ticks. What turns it on? You have to know what works. Every house is a little different and has its own personality. It’s about managing the expectations of the homeowners and yourself and what we can accomplish on the day.
So you’re also kind of a relationship counselor between these owners and their homes.
Yes! We want the people to remember that thing they liked and drew them to the house in the first place. Sometimes you fall out of love. Sometimes you just need a reminder. That’s where we come in. A little bit of a relationship counselor, but I think for the most part this is the least amount of swear words I’ve ever said while doing any kind of projects. Having the cameras follow me around was actually good for my vocabulary and kept me more in line.
Jonathan Knight does a show. Do you talk with him about home improvement? Any chance we’ll see a collaboration between you, or do you see him as a rival here?
We were actually on tour with [New Kids on the Block] back in 2013 before his show even came out. I had this idea and took it around. People were like, “Oh, there is another guy doing a show from another pop group.” I was like, “Really?” I had no idea, even when we were on the road. I had no idea this was something he was into and doing. I am friends with Jon. Maybe there is something down the road, but we are on rival networks too. Plus, rival boy bands. It would have to be head-to-head. We’d have to have some sort of competition.
The Design Network
Well, you’ve won before a few times in a competition.
That’s true. My batting average is okay.
You talked about touring. What’s it like performing with 98 Degrees after all these years?
If you were to ask me 28 years ago what I think the road would be like for me, I would never have thought that this would still be something I’d be able to do. We feel very fortunate and blessed that fans from 1997 and 1998 are still coming out to shows and supporting us and buying albums. The fact we’re recording and putting out new music is pretty spectacular. That we have this connection with our fans. It really is an amazing feeling. The fact it has allowed me to do other things I’m passionate about and enjoy doing is the icing on the cake. Whether it’s doing Dancing with the Stars or Broadway or shows like this, it all started with 98 Degrees and building up a fanbase. The success I’ve had everywhere I’ve had in my career was launched by the fans who supported me since I was 21 years old. So just a couple of years ago.
It’s hard to believe it was 25 years ago since the group released that Christmas album.
You go anywhere this time of year and hear Christmas music. Every once in a while a song will pop on of ours, and I try to play it cool. Like, “That’s a good song.” I could get a text saying, “I was at Target and 98 Degrees music came on.” I’m like, “Yeah. That’s great. That is .003 cents for me.” That’s one of the most amazing things about music. I think back on artists who have impacted me as a music fan and how they affected my life. The fact that we are able to do that for other people whether we were the first dance or wedding song or breakup song or one-night stand song. That’s all you can ask for 30 years later. Now it’s also “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” from Dancing with the Stars. I mean I’m tied to Big & Rich. Music is a powerful art form.
Nick Lachey, Justin Jeffre, Jeff Timmons, Drew Lachey (98 Degrees)
Do you have a go-to Christmas movie? Are you a Hallmark guy?
I’ve been married for a long time so, yes, there is a lot of Hallmark in my house. Any girl returns to the big city and finds the lumberjack who used to be the exec and rekindled their romance. Whatever the storyline is, it’s constantly playing at my house. If we go by my favorites, I know there is a big debate about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie. I lean on that it is not. My brother says it is. Love Actually is a great one. Without a doubt, every year when we’re decorating the Christmas tree, it’s Jim Carrey’s Grinch. It’s part of our tradition. There are great characters, and great acting. And if you have Anthony Hopkins as the narrator, come on?! You can’t beat that.
Now that you’re also known as a handy guy, do you have your bandmates or other friends reach out for your services?
Yes. Actually, there might be an episode that has a fellow bandmate on it. Maybe. Over the years, this has been something people do. I have a friend in Dallas. She is like, “I’m trying to redo this flooring vent and the contractors are telling me that I can’t get it done here.” I’m telling her over the phone what to tell them. People ask me my advice all the time, but the advice I give them usually comes from where I get my advice, which is online. If you know the basic anatomy of your home, it’s easier to figure out where you can make improvements and changes and avoid trouble in your own home.
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What do you hope people take from Date My House?
I think the biggest thing is there is no project they can’t take on. Even if it is daunting, you can take it on. You are capable. Everyone is capable of doing this. The reason people don’t work in their homes is because either they are scared or they feel they don’t have time. And if they don’t have time, they just chip away at it. There is no reason for people to be scared. If you are worried about picking the wrong paint color, worst case you paint it again. If you’re worried you’ll mess up the drywall, you mud over it and sand it again. There is a learning curve to a lot of this stuff that I don’t want people to be intimidated by.
Date My House premiere, December 14, The Design Network
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